Stork Raving Mad
by Leprechaun123
Summary: Put a husband, a wife and nine months together, usually the result is a baby - For the IWSC comp finals - Story 1


**School: **Hogwarts

**Year:** 1

**Prompts:**

Speech - "I'll do my best, but I'm not sure how much good it'll do" [Main]

Object - Old Photograph

Setting - St Mungos

**Theme:** Dittany - Healing

**Word Count:** 2,663

**Link: **The meaning behind dittany - Birth, New beginnings, Fear of Birth, the miracle of life

**A/N: **The way I worked the theme was through mental healing. The idea that realising others go through similar emotions to adjust a person's own opinion of their ability. Often a person's own mind can be their worst enemy and some sort of crutch is needed to improve said mind or rather improve their thought process. If one is having damaging thoughts which affects their abilities, finding out that someone else has had similar thoughts and managed to get through it can give a brighter outlook on the situation. This was the thought process that I used when depicting the theme.

**Stork Raving Mad**

On the crest of a hill in northern England, there was a large mansion at the end of a long winding path. At first glance, the sprawling building was intimidating and daunting. Large stone turrets spiralled out into the sky; large, majestic, stone gryphons perched on the edge of the roof, each one snarling at passersby.

But as you got closer, if you dared, you would notice the cracking stone panel entitling the place 'Potter Manor' and the subtle indications that this was a place of love. The ivy-strewn stone walls gave the house a fairytale feel; the dip in the front stone step implied the continuous passing of feet over the threshold; there were tiny, colourful blossoms reaching out to say hello.

Then, as you neared the front door, that's when you heard it; the laughter petering out of every window. You could smell the baking bread as little house elf feet pottered about the kitchen. The warm glow from the light filtered through the windows.

The large, glass-panelled front door opened and an elegant woman stepped into the doorframe. She stood with her arms crossed, her brows furrowed and her lips pursed. You cowered at her image before she grinned and opened her arms. You mirrored her grin and ran into her arms, her tight embrace enveloping you. This was _home_.

* * *

These were the memories that flooded through the Marauders' minds as they entered the house. This was the place that no matter who you were, you were welcome. Remus and Sirius both came like wandering travellers and were greeted with plenty. James knew that growing up, he would always have a place to return to. Never did they imagine that they'd be back in this house one early morning, packing up the memories.

Leaving a heavily pregnant Lily downstairs, the boys ventured up into the dark, dusty attic of Potter Manor. Everywhere they turned, cobwebs were waving, spiders dangling. A cold breeze blew through cracked glass in the window. The three of them shivered in the emptiness of warmth before beginning to sort through the mementoes that were stacked; Remus sorted out the old, dust-covered books, James separated worn clothes into two piles, and Sirius moved all the antique crockery into carefully wrapped containers.

As the sun grew higher in the sky, the three men fell into a steady rhythm, breaking down the large gatherings into smaller pieces. James and Remus began to move the finished boxes into a pile closer to the door of the attic. Silence reigned as their energy levels dropped. Suddenly, Sirius let out a triumphant yell.

"Look what I found," he shouted, lifting himself from where he was crouched emptying a shelf. He thrust a large antique walking cane into the air before spotting a large, brass bowl. With a practised move, he flipped the bowl onto his head like a top hat. "En garde," he shouted, dropping into a fencing position.

"A baby shouldn't be too much of an issue since you had some practice with babysitting this one," Remus says laughing, nodding at Sirius.

"Hey!" Sirius says indignantly.

"What do you mean?" James inquired, halting with a box in his arms.

"Well, once Lily has the baby, it'll be like having two children around here; it and Sirius," Remus explained slowly. A resounding thump echoed around the room as the box slipped from James' grasp. A look of horror fell over his face.

"Oh my Merlin," he whispered, "Lily is going to have a baby."

Remus raised an eyebrow at him. "That's usually what pregnant means alright," he retorted.

"No, no, I understood that Lily was pregnant," James spat out. "I just never put pregnancy and having a baby together." His hand ran through his hair in panic, sticking it up even more than usual. He began to pace. "I can't have a baby. I'm not old enough to have a baby."

"Technically, Lily is having the baby," Sirius pointed out.

"Not helping," Remus growled at him before turning his attention to James. "James, you need to keep calm. Just, I don't know, count to ten. Breathe. In and out," Remus tried his best to placate him.

"I'll do my best, but I'm not sure how much good it'll do," James stuttered. He took a deep breath. "Nope, it didn't work." His breathing got more and more erratic; he bent over as he tried to catch his breath. Remus moved over towards his side, starting to rub his back in an attempt to calm him.

"James, you need to calm down. If Lily sees you like this, she's going to panic, and that won't be good in her state," Remus tried to reason with him.

James heard the words being uttered, but they floated in the air over his head. Sirius watched his friend's state, and it was only when Remus threw a pleading look at him that he tried to help. He dropped the makeshift sword and pulled the bowl off his head. He knew exactly what to do. Striding over to James, Sirius pulled him into a standing position and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Snap out of it," he punctuated his sentence with a hard slap on James' cheeks. The shock of the action jolted the thought of James's panic out of his head. His breathing returned to normal as he came out of his stunned state.

"What was that for?" he asked angrily.

"I was helping," Sirius shrugged, "and I wanted to see if it would do any good." He went to move away again. James growled menacingly, getting ready to hit him back.

Suddenly, a loud yell of "James" broke through the haze of anger that clouded his mind.

The three men bolted down the steps and into the kitchen where Lily was sitting, clutching her round belly, her face twisted in pain.

"Lily, what's happening?" James asked, running to kneel down at her side.

She lifted her tear-stained head, "The baby is coming," she managed to say.

James's jaw dropped open. "But you're not due for another ten days," he stuttered.

"I've been having pains all morning and didn't want to say anything. I knew you would panic," Lily reasoned, "but now they're really close together. They have been for about an hour now." Another wave of pain consumed Lily's body, and she let out a pain-filled groan.

"Right, we have to go," James stated, pulling Lily into his side. He looked at the other two. "I need you two to keep packing, but I also need Lily's maternity bag from home," he stared wide-eyed at them. "Sort it out please." With a crack, they were gone.

Remus and Sirius stared at the empty space in silence until it was broken by a resounding slap.

"You should have kept your mouth shut," Sirius stated as he turned and left the kitchen.

"She was already in labour before I said anything," Remus cried, holding his reddening arm. "I can't be blamed for this." His voice faded as he followed Sirius, the door swinging shut behind him.

* * *

Arriving at St Mungo's, it was all hustle and bustle. Once they tore through two big, heavy, white doors, James didn't know where to turn. Clutching Lily to him, he hurried over to the reception desk.

"She's having a baby," he huffed out to the blonde receptionist. The receptionist sighed heavily before turning to Lily.

"How far apart are the contractions?" Her monotonous voice rang out.

"Five minutes," Lily winced out. The receptionist waved over a mediwitch that was standing to the side.

"This is Asa. She'll be your maternity mediwitch. If you follow her, she'll get you settled in," the bored voice continued. James nodded and tightened his arm around Lily.

"I'm sorry, sir, but you can't go with her," the receptionist halted his movement.

"But she's my wife," James argued.

"Congratulations. Now please take a seat in the waiting room. Your _wife_ will be well looked after," the receptionist moved her focus back into her screen, effectively ending the conversation.

James spluttered as Lily was brought down the corridor out of his sight. He huffed before dropping down into an uncomfortable, white plastic chair. He ran his hand through his hair, mussing it up all the more. Thoughts tumbled through his head, colliding with memories of his parents. Realising what he had to live up to as a parent, he began to panic again. He couldn't do this. He bent down, gripping hair in his fingers.

Suddenly, a dark-haired blur ran past him. It bent over gasping. Clutching a large maternity bag in his arms, the blur slammed a hand down on the receptionist's desk. "I'm looking for a man having a panic attack over his wife having a baby," Sirius's voice rang out as he addressed the unenthusiastic receptionist.

"Padfoot?" James said, his panic coming through.

"Never mind, I found him. Thanks for all your _help_. Prongs!" he replied with an elated smile. "How's Lady Prongs? Baby Prongs here yet? How are you?"

"I don't know… on all counts," he said, his head bowed with a wave of nausea taking over.

"Come on, you'll know it'll be fine. Everything's going to be okay," Sirius attempted to reassure him as he dropped into the adjacent seat, throwing the maternity bag under his seat.

"Sirius, you don't seem to understand. She's having _my _baby," James ranted as he began to pace, "and I can't look after a baby. I'm not going to be able to protect it. Sirius, we're in the middle of a war. A _war. _Do you know what happens in wars? People die in wars. A child is coming into this world, and people are _killing _each other.

Then there's my parents. You've seen what kind of people my parents were. That's a lot to live up to. They made the manor home for every waif and stray…"

"Hey!"

"...no offence. I can't do that. I'm not ready for this. Babies are so tiny. Like smaller than house elves tiny. They're more pygmy puff size.

And then there's the fact that Lily is going to leave me once she realises what a disaster I am with it…"

"Fairly sure she knows already."

"I'm not my father. He was the best person I knew. The one who was a dad to everyone. He never struggled with this. He could do everything. He never had these problems. He knew how to be a father. I'm not him. I'm not going to do any good,"

"Breathe," Sirius interjected from his place, lounging as well as one can in a hard plastic chair.

"_Not helping. _I can't do this. I'm never going to be good enough for him," James said despondently, dropping down into the chair beside Sirius. He laid his head in his hands, his shoulders rising and dropping with barely composed sobs. He looked up at Sirius with glassy eyes. "Sirius, I'm not enough."

Sirius grimaced from his position before sitting up straight. "If it's any consolation, you can't be any worse than my parents," he stated.

James let out a watery chuckle. "That's no consolation," he responded. "Definitely not the bar I was aiming for. I wish my dad were here so I could talk to him." He rubbed his hair _again_.

Sirius smiled slightly, throwing an arm over James' shoulder. "We all wish your dad were here," he said. "That way _we_ wouldn't have to deal with you." The two sighed and sat in silence, contemplating what they would say to James' dad.

Then, for the third time that day, the two hospital doors slammed against the wall as a person came tumbling through. Remus ran past the two boys, their heads following his movement. Sirius bent his head closer to James.

"Do you reckon he saw us?" he asked. James shook his hair and gestured for him to shush.

Remus tried to catch his breath at the reception desk. "I'm looking for a dark-haired man whose wife is having a baby. He's possibly having a panic attack," he panted out. The bored receptionist lifted her hand and merely pointed in the boys' direction. Remus nodded when he spotted them. He trotted over to them.

"She loves her job, doesn't she?" he murmured.

"Never seen anyone more excited," Sirius deadpanned. The three chuckled, their panic and nervousness seeping through.

Remus turned to James. "I found something when I was packing. I came across a box filled with old photos, and there's one that I think you might like," he said as he handed over a worn, old photograph.

James gripped the photo's edge. The photo itself was worn at the edges and missing a corner. Inside the frame was a man and a baby. He watched as a black and white image of his father smiled down at the infant. The baby stared wide-eyed up at Charles before grabbing his finger. The fatherly image smiled even wider at the contact before the photo started over again.

Remus gestured for James to turn it over. Written on the back was a note in his father's handwriting.

_I was scared that I couldn't be a good father before you came along. Then you grabbed my finger, and I knew it would all be okay._

James gasped and covered his mouth with one hand, tears coming to his eyes. His father had doubts too. The strongest man and the best father that he knew was afraid that he couldn't do it.

"James," Remus said as he crouched down in front of him, "it's natural to have doubts. All you can do is your best, and you'll see how much good it'll do. Even your father was scared and look how great a dad he turned out to be for all of us."

"I can do this," James whispered. "I'm scared, but all I can do is try."

"Yeah, it's like asking Lily on a date," Sirius quipped, breaking the stifling tension. The moment was broken with the sound of skin hitting skin as both boys turned on him. With a chuckle, they readied themselves for the longest wait of their lives.

* * *

Ten gruelling hours later, the boys were finally reunited with Lily. When they entered the starch white room, Lily's tired, red face grinned.

"He's here," she whispered. The mediwitch picked up a small, blue blanket wrapped creature from the plastic crib that was beside the bed. She bundled the creature up more before placing him gently into James's arms.

James looked down at the small body. As if on cue, his eyes opened, revealing the emeralds captured. James readjusted him so he could release one hand. With his index finger, he gently stroked down the soft skin of his cheek. His hand moved over his body as if to clarify that he was real. As his finger ran over his tiny hand, the small fingers opened and grasped the weathered skin. James gasped and had to blink back tears. With the small gesture, James realised that this was what he had been scared of; the idea that his son wouldn't bond with him. Now that the baby had made the first contact, he knew it would all be okay. He could do his best, and that'll be good enough.

Remus and Sirius stared over James's shoulder at the small baby, their faces melting at its adorableness.

"It's Mini Prongs with Lily's eyes," Sirius whispered.

"Does he have a name?" Remus asked.

"Harry James Potter," Lily replied.

"Harry," James tested the name out on his tongue, "my Harry."

"Aren't you glad you kept breathing, James?" Remus quipped.

James gave a slight hit to Remus before turning his attention back to Harry. Lost in the world that was his newborn son, James didn't notice the flash of the camera as a replica of the old photo was captured. After all, now that he was here, it was all going to be okay.


End file.
